Training Kids to Be Good Planners

Planning is a skill. Not everyone knows how to plan properly. But, it cannot be denied that those who are good planners have an edge in life. This skill is something that can be learned early on in life. You can teach your kids to be good planners to empower them to accomplish the goals they set out for themselves. It’s really all just a matter of organization. When things are in order, working towards a goal becomes less of a challenge.

There are times, however, when things do not go as planned. You also need to teach your kids how to deal with these contingencies – time to switch to Plan B, so to speak. Remember too that just as important as learning the act of planning itself is for a child, it is also important to learn how to deal with the frustration when a plan fails.
To put things simply, planning involves the following:

What needs to be done and when should it be done – a plan starts with a goal. What do you want to accomplish. It might be a specific sales target for a businessman or a task for a homemaker. For a child, it could be as simple as fixing his room or building a wagon. The goal should be stated clearly. The expected completion of the goal should also be indicated.

What materials are needed to get it done – listing all the resources required to complete the task is the next step. In the example of fixing a child’s room, he might put down boxes and organizers in his list. The child can also list down financial resources and manpower resources (adult help) that he might need.

What steps need to be taken to get it done – he then has to walk through the process in a step-by-step manner. Putting each step down on paper will help him visualize how things will progress so that he can estimate the time each task will take. This part of planning will also give the child an idea if his goal is really attainable within the deadline he has set.